Hope Springs Eternal
by HouseNorthman
Summary: **Blood On The Bayou Outtake** Eric considers his future with Sookie.


**_Blood On The Bayou Outtake_**

_*Set a week after the vampires arrive back in Louisiana from Mississippi.*_

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**EPOV**

"Pamela" I call out as she walks past my office door.

"Yes Eric?" She answers as she slinks in wearing her long, black dress. I remember when we first opened Fangtasia and I had to fight her tooth and nail to get her to wear the ridiculous goth evening wear that humans seem to think vampires are supposed to dress in. If my child had it her way, she would be in pastels and pink twin sets every night but as I've explained to her numerous times; that would not be good for business.

"Close the door. I would like your advice on something of a private nature."

"Of course Master. Do you have someone chained up downstairs? Are we going hunting?" She asked beaming at the prospect.

"Not tonight, I'm afraid. What do you know about human weddings?"

The dumbfounded look on her face led me to believe that perhaps she didn't know much of anything.

"Well…I….I know a little from Dear Abby and such, but I'm not exactly an expert on human customs. Why do you want to know?"

"I'm going to ask Sookie to marry me."

"Eric you're practically already married in the eyes of the Supe community because you've blood bonded to her. The human custom of marriage doesn't hold a candle to the honor you've already bestowed on her."

"Yes I realize that, but you know how Sookie values such "normal" activities that humans have. She doesn't realize how significant a blood bond is in our world and a wedding will make more sense to her. And it will make her happy."

"Wow I don't know what to say. I can't imagine you of all people, pandering to the whim of a human and her traditions. Don't get me wrong; I love Sookie, but how will it look to everyone else if the famous Viking sex God is off the market?" She asked, still in shock.

"I don't care what anyone thinks; they would have to be a fool to say anything to my face about it. And you know as well as I do that Sookie is no mere human. In fact, she is more Faery now than ever. I believe once she learns to wield her powers correctly, she will be a force to be reckoned with."

"Well you're right on that point; she is much more than human. Just think of all the commotion you will cause in the Supe world. A vampire marrying a Faery for fuck sake! Who would have ever thought it possible?" By now she was laughing at the idea.

"I certainly wouldn't have, but she is different. There is something special about her and I will bind her to me in every way possible. We will be married by vampire tradition, human tradition, and by Santa Clause himself if it brings her to my side permanently. I would like for you to do some research; find out everything you can about marriage. I know humans typically do something they consider romantic to ask for the lady's hand. Her father is dead, so perhaps I should contact Niall about a bride price?"

"Don't look at me, I don't know. I don't think there is a bride price anymore however. Do you think the Prince will allow you to marry his precious Faery? You know he probably wants her to mate with a pure blood because of their shortage of new Faeries." She snorted.

"I don't need his permission and it would be foolish on his part to try and stop me. I may not be able to father a child, but Sookie is no brood mare and that's not the life she wants. Let me know as soon as possible what you have found out."

"Of course." She said and nodded her head. She paused for a brief moment before walking to the door to leave.

I vamped (as Sookie calls it) over to her before she walked out of the room and put my hands on each side of her face as I looked in her eyes.

"You know that no one will ever replace you right? I want Sookie to join our family, but her place at my side will never change your place. You are my child and I love you." I gave her a soft kiss on her lips before releasing her.

"Jag älskar dig med. Du lovade mig för evigt och jag tänker hålla dig till den." (_I love you too. You promised me forever and I intend to hold you to it.)_ She answered smiling at me before sauntering out of the office.

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**Pam POV**

"Hmm let's see here… Wedding Planning for Dummies, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Married, The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Being A Groom, 51 Things You Should Know Before Getting Engaged…that should do it." Apparently Amazon is the go-to place for researching marriage.

I'll just order these, skim through them and tell my Master everything he needs to know about marriage. Humans do it all the time so it can't be that difficult. Why Eric wants to degrade himself by standing up in front of a bunch of people he doesn't like and tell them how much he adores that Faery is just beyond me. Now maybe if there were a custom of fucking your companion in front of a large audience to prove your sexual superiority; now that would be something to see.

I must admit I don't understand half the things my Master has done since meeting our favorite telepath. Since the night the beautiful little virgin waltzed into our bar, things have never been the same. A shining light in a sea of darkness he called her. The way they practically eye fucked each other right in front of Bill that night was quite amusing, but who knew it would lead to here. Now I'm searching the internet for information on how to marry a human; or at least a partial one. I can only imagine what the fangbangers will think when they hear about this; we'll probably have a full scale riot on our hands.

The funny thing is I've never seen my Master so….happy. Don't get me wrong, Eric has always had that certain flare for the afterlife and the two of us have had a few centuries of fun times together but the way he is when Sookie is around is different. The way they seem to complete each other is uncanny. I'm not one for emotion, but I've often looked at the two of them together and wondered if perhaps fate didn't bring them together. Being his only child, I'll admit to some slight jealousy when Tinkerbelle entered our lives but now she's become someone I would call my friend. The spunk that Faery has is enough to provide me with hours of entertainment; not to mention how much ammunition she gives me to tease Eric with.

"Now here's something I can definitely help with!" I mutter to myself while browsing through pages of couture wedding dresses online. Knowing Sookie she'll insist on not spending too much money on a dress she will only wear once. Ha! No stepmother of mine is going to be seen in a wedding dress off a sale rack, that's for sure.

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**EPOV**

With Sophie Ann relocating to Nevada and leaving me in charge of Louisiana, I'm forced to spend a large amount of my time at her headquarters in New Orleans currently. It's the first time Sookie and I have spent more than a day away from each other since forming the blood bond and it's unsettling to say the least. As I'm going over the monthly income reports for Louisiana, I can't help but think of my beautiful bonded and her warm, soft skin. The bright smile on her face that she always has for me is something I've become addicted to seeing nightly. Her small hands running up and down my chest, warming me up with her heat….oh her heat, how I long to feel the fiery depths of my Faery wrapped tightly around me.

I throw the reports down, unable to concentrate on my work for thoughts of my bonded are distracting me. Seraphina, the Royal secretary knocks at the door and waits for me to answer. I wonder if my revelry has prevented me from hearing her knocking before now.

"Come in." I call out.

"Mr. Northman, there's a Mr. Julian Cavallo here to see you. He says he has an appointment with you, but it's not listed on your schedule."

"Oh yes it's a personal matter, not on my work schedule. Send him in please and grab him a blood."

"Yes sir." She backed out of the room and Julian walked in.

I stood and walked to the other side of the desk, happy to be out from under the monotonous paperwork. This was an appointment I was actually looking forward to.

"Bello vederti vecchio amico. Grazie per essere venuti così poco preavviso." (_Good to see you old friend. Thank you for coming on such short notice.) _I walked forward and shook his hand; Italian vampires actually embrace the gesture. Julian was an old friend of mine that I met a few centuries ago in Italy. At the time, he was working as an assassin for the King of Rome; now he's a world renowned jewelry maker for the Supe community and almost as much of a ladies man as I used to be. You might call him a vampire of many talents.

"È bello vederti bene vichingo. È stato molto, troppo lungo." (_It is good to see you as well Viking. It has been much too long.)_ He answered in his jovial voice that seems to draw the women like flies.

"How is business?" I asked as I took my seat in front of him.

"Oh going very well, you know how vampires love their jewels."

"That I do and I was hoping you could help me with your expertise. I need an engagement set; a nice diamond ring and two diamond bands to wear one on each side. I will also need several formal pieces for my bonded to wear to different events."

"Ah, an engagement set; is congratulations in order?"

"Not yet, but hopefully soon with your help."

"Well that is wonderful news and I'm sure I can come up with something you'll love. Did you have any ideas in mind?" He pulled out a little notebook and pen from his breast pocket.

"I've been looking at some samples and this antique style looks like something she would love. She's a southern belle so no doubt that style will be aesthetically pleasing to her. I would like at least 2 carats but she won't want something so big that it's gaudy and either square or emerald cut diamond for the engagement ring."

He jotted down a few notes in his book before putting it away and asking about what kinds of formal jewelry I wanted. I explained to him that with my new position, we would be attending many social and political events where she would need more than just the few pieces of formal jewelry I had already given her. Every vampire of means would be at those events and their dates would be dripping in diamonds, so my sweet Faery was just going to have to get used to it.

Hopefully after I make her my wife legally, she will stop trying to dissuade me from buying her extravagant gifts. Even with her own newfound wealth, she still finds it difficult to splurge or let me spoil her to my heart's content. I'll have to break her of that because it brings me much joy to give her things she never imagined she would have. The stables I'm having built on my property to surprise her will no doubt delight her more than giving her the Hope diamond.

When we finished making plans for all the jewelry and Julian left, I was back to staring at the papers that were becoming the bane of my existence. I had to focus on the task at hand and before I knew it; I would be reunited with my angel.

VVVVVVV

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_The night before the proposal…._

"Godric; I hope I'm not disturbing you." I said to my maker as I stepped into his room. Since he had been in town he had rotated staying with me, Pam, and sometimes Amelia over at Sookie's house.

"No, I was just about to come down to the kitchen. Will you join me?"

We both walked down to the kitchen and I went to the fridge to grab two True Bloods and popped them into the microwave. Despite never serving others usually, it was different with Godric; he was my maker and I wouldn't expect him to wait on me.

I sat down across from him and took a swig of the vile, red imposter. A steady diet of Sookie Stackhouse had made all other blood almost unpalatable.

"What is on your mind son?" Godric asked.

"Sookie has something planned for everyone tomorrow night and afterwards I'm going to propose to her."

"So you're finally going to do it? You've had that ring for a week; I was wondering if you were just going to let it collect dust." He said. I scoffed a little at the idea. "This is wonderful news, why do you seem so reluctant?"

"It's been a very long time since I was anybody's husband Godric. I don't know what to expect or if I can even be the type of husband she wants. I'm dead for half the day and I can never give her children; she may decide that is something she can't deal with."

"Have you two discussed the obvious complications of a human/vampire relationship?"

"Yes we have. She says that she is happy with the way things are and she never had any real chance of being a mother anyways."

"Do you believe her?"

"Well….yes. I can feel that she is happy and I believe she is being honest when she says that not having children is not a deal breaker for her."

"So if she has said that these things don't present an issue for her, then why are you troubled?"

"Things are so complicated sometimes!" I said slamming my bottle down. "For over a thousand years, I've learned to control my emotions and not let them control me. With Sookie, all those barriers come down. I am so infatuated with her very being that I find it difficult to think of anything else when she is nearby and even more so when she isn't by my side. Part of me wants to fuck her and feed on her sweet blood until I've consumed every drop, but the bigger part of me wants to hold her and fall to my knees and worship this angel that the Gods have sent to me. She can be infuriatingly stubborn and yet more lovable than anything I have ever felt. Sometimes I feel psychotic with the way my feelings for her drive me almost to madness. I could never have imagined feeling love again, but what I feel for Sookie is beyond love. It's a deep, pulsing, living thing that fuels every nerve in my body to be close to her; love her and protect her. Vampire Kings are not supposed to have these types of feelings."

"Oh Eric for someone as smart as yourself, you are clueless when it comes to matters of the heart. I'll admit that I've never experienced the feelings you have for your bonded. The deepest love I have ever felt is for you and your siblings and it doesn't sound exactly like what you described. What I know for sure though, is that this is no mistake. I believe Sookie was meant to be yours just as you were meant to be hers. There is no shame in feeling love, happiness, and joy. Vampires just get so desensitized the longer we live, that we forget what it feels like to have these things. You have been given a great gift in finding your true soul mate. I know many vampires who would give anything to have what you have with Sookie. Don't let your millennia of survival instincts ruin this precious gift. You can still be the bad ass Viking Vampire King and a good husband to your mate; you don't have to pick one."

I sat quietly contemplating his words. Maybe he was right; maybe I could still be the ruthless vampire when I needed to be and the loving husband for Sookie. It did help that Sookie no longer cowered from a fight or hated the idea of taking a life; even if it meant saving her own. She was no delicate flower and I had to believe that she could handle every part of my life; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Marrying her wouldn't turn me into something I'm not; it would give me a companion that would stand by my side through the centuries. There would be no more loneliness and a big, empty house with no one to share it with. Sookie would be here with me night after night; we would make memories and get to know each other body and soul. I wouldn't give her children, but I would give her the whole world. I'd take her traveling all over the world and rediscover the beauty of places I've already seen by seeing it through her wondrous eyes. She would tell me her dreams and I would move Heaven and Earth to make them come true. If she would be my wife, she would be making mine come true as well.

"You're right. The feelings she has stirred in my long dead heart are not to be feared and avoided; they are to be embraced and nurtured. I'm going to ask her to marry me tomorrow and she's going to say yes."

"That's the spirit." Godric said.

"Master…I'm glad you are here." I said before leaving to head to the club.

Flying high above Shreveport through the warm, summer air I silently said a little prayer to Freyja to give my own Goddess the courage to say yes to this old warrior.

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Hope you guys enjoyed this little peek into Eric's head. As you can see, he was planning on marrying Sookie for a while but he waited patiently while life fell into place. Let me know what you think and keep an eye out for the sequel to BOTB coming very soon!


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